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Monks/Monastery
Monks (General) A monk (from Greek: μοναχός, monachos, "single, solitary") is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decided to dedicate his life to serving all other living beings, or to be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live his life in prayer and contemplation with other like minded individuals. He is a member of a religious order who lives a communal life in a monastery, abbey, or priory under a monastic rule of life and under the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. These vows are: obedience, conversion, stability, Poverty and chastity. *'Obedience' requires that monks are willing to obey the Templar Church, as represented by the superior person of the monastery, which is an abbot or prior. *'Conversion' of life means, generally, that the monk will release himself from the binds and false hopes of this earthly life and dedicate his life to working for God (i.e. be an instrument for God's work while here on Earth). *'Stability' means they vow to stay in that single monastery for the remainder of their lives, and, upon death, he will be buried "on-campus". *'Poverty' requires that they renounce any ownership of property or assets, except for items that were allowed to them by their superior (such as a religious habit, shoes, a cloak, etc.), and to live meekly, sharing whatever they might have with the poor. *'Chastity' requires that since they were willing to dedicate their lives to God, they sacrificed the love between men and women and would not marry. Also, they give up any act of sexual conduct. To become a monk, one first must become a postulant (a candidate), during which time the man lives at the monastery to evaluate whether he is called to become a monk. As a postulant, the man is not bound by any vows, and is free to leave the monastery at any time. He pay for his stay at the monastery. If the postulant and the community agree that the postulant should become a monk, the man is received as a novice, at which time he is given his religious habit, and begins to participate more fully in the life of the monastery. Following a period as a novice, usually six months to a year, the novice is given the option to take the solemn vows, which can be renewed annually for a period of several years. After a few years, the monk can make permanent vows, which are binding for life. Within western monasticism, it is important to differentiate between monks and friars. Monks generally live a contemplative life of prayer confined within a monastery while friars usually engage in an active ministry of service to the outside community. The monastic life generally consists of prayer in the form of the Liturgy of the Hours (also known as the Divine Office) and divine reading (lectio divina) and manual labor. Among most religious orders, monks live in simple, austere rooms called cells and come together daily to celebrate Mass and to recite the Liturgy of the Hours. In most communities, the monks take their meals together in the refectory. While there is no vow of silence, many communities have a period of silence lasting from evening until the next morning and some others restrict talking to only when it is necessary for the monks to perform their work and during weekly recreation. The Templar Church Monk The Templar-Church-Monk is dressed in a black habit with a white cloak. Novices are dress in brown and Postulants still dress in their worldly clothing, which they had with them when they arrived. Daily routine of a Templar Chuch Monk: : Rules a TC Monk must follow: *He must own a bible and does not work on saturday *He must own a sword *He must bath himself daily. *A monk does not use perfume. *He can speak when ever he likes, but, not during mass and prayers times. *Speaking is encouraged during mealtimes. *He shares his living quarters with another brother. (2 per dorm), Novices (2 per dorm), Portulants (4 per dorm) *Can marry, but then he leaves the monastery. *Denounces all claim on worldly possesions/wealth and takes up the vow of poverty. This does not mean, he can not posses anything at all * and have no money at all **, but his focus is on his duty towards God and the congregation and leads it by a good example. *He is not allowed to stand as godfather for any child. *Hunting for amusement is forbidden, only hunting for surfival is allowed. *He is allowed to carry or own letters from home. *A TC mont is allowed to have some food/drink in his room but, not alcohol. A novice does not have this right yet. *He is allowed to carry a weapon for selfdevence. *No sex is allowed, in that case the monk is asked to leave and get married. *A TC monk does not need save his head bald, hair is a gift from God, but long hair is not permitted. Novices do need to save their face. A beard denotes being an elder. *The brother is allowed to own a cat or dog (the dog needs to be kep in the stables.) *The monk gets off one week per year (to see family). * His possesion must be able to fit in a chest given to him, (his clothing of office not included) which has the dimentions of: 131x79x79 cm (the dimension of the arc of the covenant) This chest is usally placed under his bed or in the case of novices/postulants, in the hallway. ** He is allowed to own 240 (╬) in whatever form. + he is not allowed to miss any of these times of worship, unless he is sick. For the Templar-Church-Non, all would be the same except there would only be women at her monastery and that she would be wearing her headcovering.